Battery packs for consumer electrical products often comprise battery packs for providing power to the electrical product. Typically cordless consumer electrical products will have a rechargeable battery pack. Recently much effort has been put into understanding and developing new battery technologies. Improving batteries and increasing battery capacity is desirable because this increases the run time of the cordless electrical product.
Today most battery powered consumer electrical products will comprise a lithium ion battery pack. Lithium ion (Li-ion) based batteries packs are an improvement on other existing battery technologies such as Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) because they are lighter and have a greater energy density. However Li-ion batteries are susceptible to damage from physical shocks and require suitable protection.
A known battery pack is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,343,643 which provides a support frame having a plurality of recesses for receiving a plurality of battery cells. One problem with the support frame is that unless the battery cells are manufactured to a very high tolerance, some cells will not fit the support frame properly. For example some cells will be smaller in diameter than the recesses and the cells will be prone to rattling when located in the recesses of the support frame.
EP 2 193 562 provides a battery pack with a housing and several battery cells. The battery cells are spaced apart from each other with a spreading element that allows battery cells with varying sizes due to manufacturing tolerances to be used in the same battery pack. A problem with this battery pack is that the spreading elements are directional and can be inserted incorrectly. This means that the battery packs take longer and are harder to assemble.
A battery pack providing an arrangement which can withstand physical shocks and is easier to assemble is desired. Embodiments of the present invention aim to address the aforementioned problems.